Trucks Bearing Gifts
by Aurora Sanders
Summary: A pendant that Rhys finds at work allows him to read everyone's thoughts reveals secrets in his marriage with Gwen. (same pendant as GBG but from a more advanced version of the society, hence the title)
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, man, check out this pendant I found in the back of one of our delivery trucks when cleaning it out. Looks like it's maybe from the Middle Ages or something."

Rhys Williams looked up from his desk at his delivery company at his co-worker Arthur, holding a swinging pendant in front of him, and took it. Ever since those men had been shipping alien meat in his truck, he'd become increasingly suspicious of anything out of the norm found in his trucks. Anything could be alien, after all. Gwen, his wife, had even gotten pregnant from a shapeshifter briefly.

"Thanks. I'll check it out." Rhys answered.

As Arthur walked away, Rhys found that the pendant seemed to be pulling him towards it. Without fully being conscious of his actions, he'd taken it and slipped it over his neck.

_I swear...These customers...We're going to have to implement new standards for the cleanliness of our trucks. _Rhys gasped as Arthur's voice echoed in his head, even louder than it was when he talked. Arthur usually stuttered, but in his head, he didn't at all.

_Carrie is fucking gorgeous, but don't think about that. Don't think about it don't think about it she has a boyfriend and she slapped you when you tried to kiss her. Do you really want that to happen again?! I didn't think so. _

What was going on? Rhys was convinced that this was alien technology now. He grasped at the pendant on his neck, trying to pull it off, but his fingers wouldn't move far enough.

"Hello, Arthur," Carrie, another one of his co-workers, said coolly as she walked into the office. _Is he staring at my bum? Of course he's staring at it, he does every day. I swear to god, WHEN will he figure out that I am JUST NOT INTERESTED?!_

"You alright, mate?" Carrie asked when she saw him staring.

"Yes. Fine." Rhys looked down at his desk.

_Don't tell me HE fancies me now. I can only stand one fat bloke at this office fancying me._ Carrie's voice again. Rhys hurried out of the office, Carrie's voice behind him. _Although I do feel a little bad for the bloke. He doesn't look like he gets much action at home, with that wife who's hardly ever around. What does she even do? She's definitely not in the police force anymore._

Gwen would tell him to tear off the pendant if she knew. She'd tell him that this level of knowledge was inappropriate. Although...Rhys had to wonder what _Gwen's _thoughts, unfiltered, would be like.

He could finally find out if she was interested in that American man once and for all. She swore she wasn't, but he'd seen them dancing at his wedding and him whispering in her ear. Safe to say, Rhys would be much more comfortable if Jack Harkness was just out of the picture entirely. Everything had changed since Gwen had taken the job at Torchwood.


	2. Chapter 2

"Evening!" Gwen chirped as she walked into the flat, kissing Rhys on the cheek. He could tell without reading her mind that she was happier than usual.

"You look happy." Rhys smiled up at her and curled an arm around her waist. "Any particular reason?"

"Oh, successful day at work is all." Gwen said dismissively, but Rhys literally couldn't help listening to her thoughts. They burst through, loud and clear, and in them she was giggling like an infatuated schoolgirl. The way she used to giggle around _him,_ when he'd go off on a rant at the queue.

_Well, an alien almost killed all of us, and Jack and I were the first two to escape, and he kissed me out of "happiness that I was_ _alive_"...Gwen's voice was scornful at that. She didn't believe it, Rhys didn't either, and he could feel his blood boiling. _But obviously I can't tell you that, because we both know how you reacted when I told you about a similar thing...so mad I had to slip you Retcon. _

WHAT? Rhys clenched his fists. She'd kissed Jack before? She'd _kissed _him?! She'd _retconned _him when he'd found out? That was the worst part. That she didn't love him enough to think that he would work through it with her.

It wasn't even like it was a surprise, that was the sad part.

"Aw, bad day at work? It'll be alright, love."

"No. I need to go lie down." Rhys didn't want to snap and do something drastic, but it was getting hard not to in her presence. He didn't know the whole truth, maybe it was better than it sounded?

"I'll come with you. It's been a long day." Gwen replied. _I bet it has, you bitch. I suppose a good portion of your energy every day is dedicated to fantasizing about your boss._

Okay, so maybe they couldn't work through it.

Rhys walked into the bedroom and laid down. Gwen came over and curled next to him, kissing his neck. Shit, why did she have to be so sexy and gorgeous while still betraying him?

Gwen's thoughts were running in a nearly-constant train. _What is wrong with him anyway? Will he not want to have sex tonight like he always doesn't when he's emotional? I mean, it's like I told Emma, it's not even like he's the best at it. Owen was better. And I'm certain Jack would be...I mean, he's got lots of practice, being immortal. And wearing 51st century pheromones and everything. They are...pretty hard to resist. Wait...what is that on his neck? Shit. That looks like the pendant Tosh wore that day when she read my thoughts and learned about my relationship with Owen._

"Are you reading my thoughts?" Gwen asked, staring at him.

"It wouldn't be a problem if you didn't have such slutty ones, now would it?" Rhys sat up, glaring at her.

Gwen visibly blanched. "Please...it doesn't mean anything. I love you."

"It doesn't sound like that, Gwen. _At all."_ Rhys's hands were balled up into fists.

Gwen stood up. "I'm not...I'm not cheating on you."

"Really? Only cheating _emotionally, _is it?" Gwen started backing away from him. Panicked thoughts were racing through her head, and Rhys was _happy. _He walked closer. "If you don't care about me, Gwen Cooper, tell me why I should care about you?"

Gwen grabbed the gun from the side of the bed, the one she'd kept there ever since she'd seen the sleeper broken into in the middle of the night. "Don't come any closer."

Rhys ignored her. "Why should I listen to you? You're just a scared little girl with a gun, who fantasizes about sleeping with your boss and your co-workers and thinks _I'm _not even good at sex."

"A little girl with a gun? You tell that to the alien I killed today," Gwen didn't put down the gun. _Jack doesn't think I'm a little girl. He explicitly told me otherwise. Sure, it involved a comment about me having all the right curves in the right places, but he respects me. He's seen me deal with monsters. Rhys still sometimes thinks he's the only one who can protect me. And honestly, at this point, the only thing he's good for is an escape from Torchwood. Which I don't even want except those days that Owen hits on me and I have to see Tosh's little doll eyes trying not to cry. Or running into Jack and Ianto playing naked hide and seek. I still can't believe he invited me to join them and have a threesome. Actually, I can._

"You are my WIFE. Why can't you just act like it?" Rhys grabbed Gwen by her shoulders, pushing her back to the wall. Gwen screamed as her gun went off, shooting Rhys in the leg. He stumbled back, blood pouring out of the wound.

Gwen fell to the floor, covering her mouth in shock. _I can't believe it. I didn't mean to. _She didn't even think for a few seconds, but then instantly started thinking again. _I need to go to Torchwood, and take the pendant with me. Jack will know what to do. He always knows what to do about everything._

Rhys cursed as Gwen removed the pendant from his neck. He couldn't do anything, not with his wounded leg. Of course, the first thought that ran through her head upon seeing him shot on the floor was that _Jack _would know what to do.


	3. Never Read Gwen Cooper's Mind

_What's wrong with Gwen?_ Gwen heard Jack's thoughts as she stumbled into the Torchwood hub. _Did an alien attack her?_

"In case you all are wondering, an alien didn't attack me or anything." she told the four in front of her, and added bitterly, "It was my _husband."_

"Be careful to shut out the thoughts you don't want her to hear." Tosh told the others. "It's the same kind of pendant that "Mary" gave me." _I hope this doesn't hurt Gwen. I know it hurt me when I heard what Owen and Gwen were really thinking about me. _

_So I guess I should try not to think about how I would still quite like to make out with Gwen, even though I dumped her._ Gwen heard Owen thinking, and stifled a grin. These guys did realize that trying to suppress specific thoughts would make her hear those specific thoughts, right?

"I'll talk to her. She can't hear my thoughts. Gwen, my office, now." Jack commanded, and Gwen followed him.

"Rhys attacked you?" Jack wrapped Gwen in a hug. _No one gets to hurt Gwen. NO ONE. If that blood's from Rhys, I'm happy. She did what I could never do._ Gwen didn't know why she could hear Jack's thoughts. Hadn't Tosh been unable to when she came in with the pendant? Was this a different version or something?

Gwen nodded. "He pushed me against the wall, and my gun went off. Hit him in the leg. Needless to say, I didn't stick around to bind the wound or anything. He said...all sorts of horrible things about me."

"Owen. Over to Gwen's house, right now, and deal with Rhys's leg. We don't want any questions. And take Ianto with you for lookout." _Because we clearly can't have Tosh going with him. We don't need any flirting right now. _Jack pointed at the door. Ianto looked at Jack with a raised eyebrow. _Is he trying to maneuver things so he's alone with Gwen? No, that's stupid. He's in love with me. Even if he did...Kill Lisa. No, don't think about that. You're not supposed to think about that._

"Tosh, scan for rift activity around Rhys's trucking service, and see if you can find ay alien lifeforms." Jack told Tosh. Tosh nodded and immediately started typing away at the computer.

"Where did you find the pendant?" Jack asked Gwen, once everyone had started doing what they were supposed to be doing. Gwen knew she'd been right to come to him — he knew exactly what to do.

"Rhys did, actually. That...that was why he attacked me. Because of what I was thinking about."

"What...were you thinking about? That he got so angry about?" _Well, that's an inappropriate question. But I'm stepping over all sorts of boundaries today, might as well breach another. Wonder if she was thinking about me...No, don't think about that, that's really stupid..._

"You..." Gwen admitted. "You kissing me after we escaped from the alien. Among other things."

_Shit. I've done it again. Fractured relationships because of stupid, horny me. I knew I should stay away from her. She needed a normal life away from us. None of us have one._

"Good thing that pendant can't hear my thoughts then." He laughed.

_You don't know anything, how much I care about you. The only reason I went for Ianto was because I couldn't have you. You don't know how much it broke my heart when you showed me your ring and told me that you were marrying Rhys because no one else would have you. I would have you, Gwen Cooper. And of course I told Rhys that the hero gets the girl at the wedding. I know you love him, and I can't do anything about that. I'm not a hero. He deserves you a million more times than I do._

"Actually..." Gwen smirked. How should she break this delicately to Jack? "I am hearing your thoughts. All of them. Right now."

_Shit. Don't think about that. Don't think about her. Definitely don't think about how she probably thinks your flirting means nothing when in fact it means everything. Or that you were actually serious when you made that proposition about Ianto. Especially don't think about how you would love to kiss her right now. Despite the ring on her finger._

"Jack..." Gwen laughed. "All of the thoughts you're trying to suppress right now are floating right to the surface. Just so you know. It's not going to work."

"No point in trying then!" He smiled. Gwen smiled back in relief. This was the Jack she knew, the self-confident one. Was he really this insecure deep down? How was that even possible?

_Maybe we should ruin your life outside of Torchwood as much as possible..._ Gwen heard Jack thinking. He was staring at her lips. Gwen supposed that it was all out there now.

"Maybe we should also clarify some things." Gwen lifted the pendant off her neck and handed it to Jack.

He looked at her. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Gwen told him. She didn't have anything to hide, not from him.

Gwen tried to make her thoughts clear, telling him that she honestly _had _thought no one else would have her, telling him about the conversation she'd had at the wedding with the shapeshifter version of him, and how she knew she could never truly be happy with someone who didn't know what they did at Torchwood, hadn't experienced it themselves. And_ that _had been the only reason she'd turned to Owen. But it wasn't like she could have a long-lasting relationship with him. It was just sexual, and she figured she should leave him alone to fall in love with someone else, whether Diane or Tosh or someone entirely different.

Jack burst out laughing.

"What?!" Gwen demanded. When he didn't reply, and continued to laugh even more, Gwen reached over and pulled the pendant off his neck.

"Oh, come on! I was hearing all sorts of interesting thoughts with that!" Jack told a glaring Gwen.

"Really, Jack?!" Gwen demanded. The only thing that could make this day worse would be Owen reading her thoughts too. She supposed he'd heard all her _subconscious _thoughts. Not just the ones she'd been trying to direct to him.

"Well, it's certainly all cleared up now," he told her, bursting into laughter. Nervous laughter. Was Captain Jack Harkness actually _blushing? _Surely her subconscious thoughts couldn't have been _that _bad in comparison to everything he'd experienced as an immortal. "Note to self — never wear a mind-reading pendant in front of Gwen Cooper."

"What did you _hear?" _Gwen demanded, although she was pretty sure she knew. She'd had plenty of dreams about Jack, after all...Maybe she _did _have some things to hide from him.

Jack was laughing so hard and couldn't compose himself, even as Owen, Ianto and Rhys descended from the ceiling. None of them looked very happy. And not just because of Rhys's injury.


End file.
